Compassionate Care Veterinary Clinic is dedicated to helping you help your pets.  As such, many people have asked us to post information on some of the more common medical issues pet's face throughout the year. Each month, we will focus on a few of the problems we commonly encounter, in an attempt to help avoid some of these medical issues, and keep your pet healthy without having to come and visit us.  Please feel free to contact us either by email or phone, if you have questions.  If however your pet is ill, please call us to schedule an appointment to get him or her taken care of as soon as possible.  

EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION:

TICK BORNE DISEASE

Clinical signs of tick born diseases are more likely to be seen in late fall and the late spring.  Ticks feed heavily just before winter in preparation for hibernation, and just after when they first come out of hibernation.  Deer ticks, the ticks that carry Lyme disease, are the most active in May and June.

The Northern part of Rhode Island is currently seeing a drastic increase in the number of ticks carrying disease.  As such, if your pet is showing any signs of illness, you should schedule an appointment to have him or her evaluated as soon as possilble.

Early signs for all tick borne disease are similar.  Lethargy, inappetance, painful gait, swollen joints, lameness, and typically what we call "ain't doing right" are the most common presenting signs we see. 

Once your pet has been exposed, clinical signs vary depending on the bacteria causing the disease.  Some affect your dog's blood's ability to clot. Others affect their ability to fight infection.  All can cause inflammation and damage to tissues.  Most commonly, joints and muscles are affected, but some dogs will develop kidney failure, heart arrythmias, or seizures from the damage done to tissues as their immune systems react to the bacteria. 

It is important to remember that most animals exposed to tick borne disease will never show signs of illness. Those that do become ill, almost always respond to treatment with antibiotics. Very rarely, patients will require hospitalization or long term medication to counteract the damage done by the illness.  However, since some animals have died from tick related disease, Compassionate Care recommends year round tick prevention for all pets, and vaccination for those at higher risk. 

For more information about tick borne disease, please visit the following websites.

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/

http://www.tickencounter.org

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/dog-care/dog-care-ticks-lyme-disease.html

http://pathmicro.med.sc.edu/mayer/ricketsia.htm

LINKS TO SITES FOR MORE INFORMATION

For general information about common health conditions in pets, please check out these websites.  

 http://www.veterinarypartner.com/

http://www.aspca.org

http://www.avma.org

http://www.rabbit.org